Bandar Seri Begawan - Two individuals believed to be Bruneians were detained by the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) earlier this month along with six other individuals of various citizenships for their roles in an alleged financial scam involving billions of dollars.

A senior officer from the Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF), when contacted by the Sunday Bulletin to comment on the story, said that authorities here were made aware of the situation and the extent of its seriousness considering the large sums of money and Bruneians allegedly involved.

The officer stated that they have made contact with the Hong Kong Interpol Office to, among others, confirm the identities of the individuals and added that further public information is currently on hold pending a response from their Hong Kong counterparts.

International reports have stated that the eight-member team comprising men aged between 34 and 73 included a 68-year-old Australian, a Singaporean and four Indonesians whom had allegedly attempted to dupe finance giant Nanyang Commercial Bank head office in Hong Kong, according to Shin Min Daily News with latest reports stating that of the eight, only one had been charged.

It was reported that the men visited the bank in two separate groups at around 10am on September 6 where they had requested to set up bank accounts together.

Local police in the Chinese metropolis had told the South China Morning, Post that the group had presented two suspected fake cashier's orders in an attempt to deposit money into the accounts amounting to an alleged US$4 billion.

A police officer from the HKPF, meanwhile, was reported as saying that the men's plot "was not a smart move" as the two documents would need to be examined carefully by bank staff whom are capable of distinguishing forged bank documents from those that are genuine due to the substantial amount.

It was also stated that the police are looking into the backgrounds of all the suspects and are investigating the source of the suspected forged documents.

According to The New Paper, the suspected documents were promissory notes where one party makes an unconditional promise in writing to pay a sum of money to the payee either at a set time or on demand of the payee under specific terms.